Doug Pederson: "He didn’t have to win the game for them"

“He understood this right away. He didn’t have to win the game for them. He knew that he had a good defense, he had a tremendous offensive line, a great runner. He had some veteran players he could rely on, and he learned that early. As soon as he had the opportunity to play, and obviously from Day One.

"That’s something that a young quarterback sometimes… takes them a while to figure out the game that way. And that’s the impressive thing, is he learned to handle that business that well, utilize the people around him, and understand that he didn’t have to go win the game.”

Bill StreicherBill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Skip Bayless

Doug Pederson's comments were offensive

“I disqualify myself, as I often do. I’m a Cowboy fan, born and raised, but I feel like I’m an objective Cowboy fan, and I feel like I’m being objective in this case.

"And I’m sure Doug Pederson was trying to say the right thing about a divisional rival, but these quotes were offensive to me - because I don’t think Dak Prescott, still to this moment, gets enough credit for what he pulled off consistently last year.

"This was classic positive-negative kind of praise. This was damning with faint praise. This was a backdoor compliment issued by a rival coach to the quarterback of my team, who happened to be a fourth-round draft choice who consistently outperformed his second overall pick in the draft, Carson Wentz.”

Kevin JairajKevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Skip Bayless

Dak Prescott isn't getting enough credit for what he accomplished

“Doug Pederson basically said that Dak was smart enough and humble enough to realize he just needed to be a game manager. That he fell into the luckiest situation you could fall into, and that [he] just went along a great ride.

"Baloney, he did.

"Doug Pederson says, ‘He realized he didn’t have to win the game for them because he knew he had a good defense.’

"A good defense? How about a below-average defense? How about a defense that Dak knew play after play after third-down play you had to keep off the field.”

James LangJames Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Skip Bayless

Dak isn't anything close to a game-manager

“I’m going to ask Doug Pederson to pull the tape again on that 11-play, 90-yard drive late in the game against Philadelphia on Sunday Night Football at Jerry World, and tell me how many game-manager plays you see in that drive.

"…That tied the game and sent it to overtime, during which Dak engineered a 12-play, 75-yard drive to win the game.

"I don’t have time to go into the plays he made at Lambeau against Aaron Rodgers, on Thanksgiving Day against Kirk Cousins in that shootout, and then they’re down 21-3 to Aaron Rodgers in the playoff game and he merely goes 40 yards to Dez Bryant. Pull the tape on that one and tell me that’s a game-manager throw that got them back in the game at 21-10.

"In the end, I’m sorry, but I think he unwittingly just took a shot at my guy Dak Prescott.”

Eric HartlineEric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Cris Carter

Doug Pederson is trying to cover for himself

“Skip, you make some valid points. You know, like baseball has a lot of unwritten rules? NFL, we have a lot of unwritten rules too. One of those rules is when you’re commenting about players that aren’t your players - especially players that are in your division… I could understand if Doug had gone out of his way to praise Dak, to potentially soften him up. In this message he started out on-point.

"… This is what happened. He started praising him, then he was like ‘OK, this is an opportunity to make an excuse for my rookie quarterback. So I can build the case up, what Carson didn’t have compared to what Dak did have. Also the trade and taking the risk with Carson, it might make more sense going into year two.’

"Don’t comment on other people’s players, not unless you’re complimentary. Leave those players out of your mouth, manage your football team.”

James LangJames Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Cris Carter

Pederson needs to concentrate on his own players

“Now, in Doug’s defense, I thought he did a good job as an offensive coordinator in the first year because he had two or three Edward Scissorhands wide receivers that Carson Wentz was throwing to. I mean, they were awful.

"So they had good plays, and when you have a young quarter back, he can’t afford - from a confidence standpoint - dropped passes. So do I know what Doug was trying to do? Yeah, he started off on course, then he got off track.

"As a rule, concentrate on your players. Talk about your players, how they’re going to get better, the OTAs. The fans want to hear about your players.”

Bill StreicherBill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Shannon Sharpe

If you talk about another team's player, you should only be complimentary

“He gave the man a backhanded compliment. He’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he had a great season. I mean, he was throwing the ball… one of the great seasons for a rookie. But he didn’t have to do anything. That running game and that stout defense…’

"If you’re going to heap praise on somebody, heap praise on them and leave it at that. Don’t heap praise on them but then take it back by saying, ‘Well, he didn’t have to do much.’

"… That defense was terrible! [Dak] also knew. ‘If I turn this ball over and I put my defense on the field more than they absolutely should be, we’re going to lose.’”